Store

Related Stories

Multimedia

Photo Galleries

Jack Lambert was a two-year All-Mid America Conference linebacker at Kent State and a second-round draft selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974. The 6-4, 220-pound Lambert immediately took charge of his destiny by winning the starting middle linebacker assignment as a rookie and keeping it throughout his 11-year career in Pittsburgh that ended after the 1984 season.

He was soon recognized as the premier linebacker of his era. Lambert had all the necessary ingredients – intelligence, intensity, speed, quickness, range, durability – and he used them all to his best advantage. Even though he was the youngest starter on the Pittsburgh defensive unit, many felt that Lambert's presence was the final ingredient needed to turn that unit into a dominant one. Intimidating, he helped to shape and reinforce Pittsburgh’s famed “Steel Curtain.”

Lambert was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1974. He was All-Pro eight times in a nine-year span between 1975 and 1983, and played in nine straight Pro Bowls. His impressive résumé also includes the fact that he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1976.

The team defensive captain for eight years, Lambert played in six AFC championship games and four Super Bowls. His interception late in the fourth quarter preserved Pittsburgh's fourth NFL title victory in Super Bowl XIV. During his career, he had 28 interceptions, which he returned 243 yards. In 1976, he recorded eight opponents' fumble recoveries and wound up with 17 during his 11-year tenure.

Lambert missed only six games because of injuries his first 10 years in the NFL but, in 1984, he suffered a severe toe injury, which limited his playing time to just eight games. He eventually was forced to retire at the end of the season.

Defensive

Year

Team

G

Int

Yds.

Avg.

TD

FumRec.

Yds.

1974

Pittsburgh

14

2

19

9.5

0

1

11

1975

Pittsburgh

14

2

35

17.5

0

1

21

1976

Pittsburgh

14

2

32

16.0

0

8

36

1977

Pittsburgh

11

1

5

5.0

0

0

0

1978

Pittsburgh

16

4

41

10.3

0

2

0

1979

Pittsburgh

16

6

29

4.8

0

0

0

1980

Pittsburgh

14

2

1

0.5

0

0

0

1981

Pittsburgh

16

6

76

12.7

0

2

38

1982

Pittsburgh

8

1

6

6.0

0

1

1

1983

Pittsburgh

15

2

-1

-0.5

0

2

0

1984

Pittsburgh

8

0

0

0.0

0

0

0

Career Total

146

28

243

8.7

0

17

107

Additional Career Statistics: 8 Sacks

Full Name: John Harold Lambert

Birthdate: July 8, 1952

Birthplace: Mantua, Ohio
High School: Crestwood (Mantua, Ohio)

Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame: January 27, 1990

Enshrined into Pro Football Hall of Fame: August 4, 1990

Presenter: Dennis Fitzgerald, Lambert's asst. coach at Kent State University and Pittsburgh Steelers